LARNED — With seven measles cases now on record in Pawnee County, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Monday added the current total to its outbreak status. Its latest dashboard posting noted that last week, seven more cases were added to the state’s list, bringing the total to 71 since the beginning of the year. Measles was first reported in a Pawnee County resident by the Pawnee County Health Department to KDHE the last week of May. 

KDHE has also linked the Pawnee County cases to the outbreak affecting nine counties in southwest Kansas. Previous cases reported in Reno and Sedgwick counties are not connected. KDHE reported that of the total outbreak cases, 58 patients have never been vaccinated, with only five patients up to date on their vaccines. 

While the highly-contagious disease can cause serious health complications, especially in children under the age of 5, so far three cases have required hospitalization, with no deaths connected to the outbreak.

KDHE updates its measles dashboard, available on its website, on Mondays and Wednesdays of each week.

Numbers rising across the U.S.

Measles cases continue to rise in the United States. As of May 29, 1,088 confirmed cases of measles have been reported, up from 1,049 measles cases as of May 22, according to data from the U.S. Centers Disease Control and Prevention. Measles have been reported in 33 states including Kansas. There have been 14 outbreaks reported in 2025, totaling 977 cases, or 90% of the confirmed cases for this year. 

In comparison, there were 16 outbreaks reported in 2024, and 69%, 198 of the total of 285 cases for the year, were associated with the outbreaks. About 30% of those cases involved children under the age of 5; 37% involve patients 5 to 19, 32% include adults 20 and older, and 1% whose age was unknown, according to the CDC. 

About 96% of the current cases include unvaccinated patients or those whose vaccination status was unknown. Another 1% involved patients who had received only one dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Only 2% of the patients had received two doses of the vaccine. There have been 127 hospitalizations, or 12% of all cases, and three confirmed deaths.

The CDC updates its measles dashboard every Friday.